Class 66 in OO Gauge - New Announcement

[89A]

14 hours ago, rob D2 said:

I wonder if people don’t like the livery or whether it’s more the fact FL 66s are perceived as mainly being about pulling long rakes of containers which is hard to do on your average OO set up. The green ones didn’t exactly go first either .

We get plenty of short Freightliner container rakes doing Barry Docks to Wentloog shuttles here in Cardiff

[Sir TophamHatt]

First report:

 

Arrived this morning (next day delivery!).

All axle boxes present.

Top grill very slightly loose in the middle.

Top middle headlight (forgot the name), has some paint weirdness but I can let that slide for now.

 

Although less than 24 hours since posting and all this number have now gone. Was considering swapping but no have no choice. Wish I'd have bought two and sent the worst one back.

 

 

Do I have to unhook steps when removing the body?

Which ones? The manual just says "watch out for the orange parts". 

Edited March 11, 2021 by Sir TophamHatt

[adb968008]

I thought Freightliner may have hung a bit, given how many types there are, but 2 have since gone, and 66504 and 66502 are now both under 10.. less than 30 left before Freightliner goes extinct...

I see there's a few horror stories starting to appear now on the used items, so I guess were getting close to the bottom of the barrel, check the pictures carefully on the current returns, as I guess theres not as much room in the description to list everything.
 

 

[adb968008]

4 hours ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

 

Do I have to unhook steps when removing the body?

Which ones? The manual just says "watch out for the orange parts". 

1. Unhook the 8 step handrails out of the chassis (blue)

 

2. flip the body upside down, use a hotel key to unclip the 4 clips. (Green)

 

3. gently lift the chassis off starting at one cab end, watch the steps dont fowl, lift all the way to the other end and repeat at the steps on that end.

 

[newbryford]

1 hour ago, adb968008 said:

 

I see there's a few horror stories starting to appear now on the used items, so I guess were getting close to the bottom of the barrel, check the pictures carefully on the current returns, as I guess theres not as much room in the description to list everything.
 

 

 

Just received one of the cheaper 66s. I had to do some modelling.

I had to do some - less than 5 minutes -  fixing.

One loose brake fitting, two loose buffers and axleboxes.

No wobble.

There were two deflector plate footsteps missing - not listed in the description, but that doesn't worry me, as I've two spare bufferbeams to go at. Or at worst - make a couple.

Even better value than the already keenly priced £119 examples.

Edited March 10, 2021 by newbryford

[YesTor]

On 08/03/2021 at 09:19, classy52 said:

quite handy when you are watching the numbers for budgeting purposes.

 

Agreed, and actually one of the reasons I buy most stuff from Hattons in the first place, in that this feature allows for budgeting when buying quantities of any said item.  By comparison, one of the things I dislike about Rails of Sheffield (to name but one), are the barrage of daily "Quick, selling out fast!" emails instilling a 'panic buy' mentality, only to find that said item is still in stock several weeks/months later - not great when you've utilised those funds that could have gone toward something else you want/need that has actually sold out in the meantime... 

 

Al

[SouthernMafia]

 

£85 "bottom of the barrel" purchase.

Listed as "poor runner", broken/loose drive shaft (included), underframe detail loose (fuel tank)

It also wobbled like jelly, 2 axle boxes missing, and no detail pack (these weren't listed in description)

 

Anyways, an hour's work today and the drive shaft has been reinstalled, now runs fine. Fuel tank glued on. Wobble was down to axle boxes, all removed, cut down and reglued in, now completely wobble free! 

Just need 2 spare axle boxes and a front skirt without NEM hole (anyone fancy sending us a spare please??)

I think that's pretty good for £85.

[dave56]

Ordered yesterday arrived early this afternoon. It's the best one of the three I have, just a slight wobble caused by one axle box which has been cut down and fixed in place. Very pleased with this Hattons original.

[classy52]

I'm curious about the above posts talking about cutting down the AB's and re-fitting but no mention of bogie frame holes adjustment?

Do you actually shorten the AB shafts and then re-fit them, because the only decent workaround to stop the wobble I've seen is to widen the bogie frame holes with 3.2mm drill bit or something similar and taking off the spring excess off the back of the bogie frame as well so they fit flush when you push them back in but I've seen nothing on just cutting or shortening the actual AB's to stop the wobble.

[Roy Langridge]

2 minutes ago, classy52 said:

I'm curious about the above posts talking about cutting down the AB's and re-fitting but no mention of bogie frame holes adjustment?

Do you actually shorten the AB shafts and then re-fit them, because the only decent workaround to stop the wobble I've seen is to widen the bogie frame holes with 3.2mm drill bit or something similar and taking off the spring excess off the back of the bogie frame as well so they fit flush when you push them back in but I've seen nothing on just cutting or shortening the actual AB's to stop the wobble.

 

I think this is where people glue them in as non-revolving.

 

Roy

[classy52]

10 minutes ago, Roy Langridge said:

 

I think this is where people glue them in as non-revolving.

 

Roy

 

Ah yes didn't think of that, just assumed everyone was sticking with rotating AB's.

Just earlier purchased Freightliner Pink ONE (bargain £89) thus now have x10 66's to cure and yes I'm doing the bogie frame holes & back part as detailed by Peter Dixon & adb968008 on their YT channels which are extremely helpful, just completed my first 66 this week and now steady as a rock so onto the other 9....

[SouthernMafia]

Yes as Roy says they are glued in, I ain't fussed about them rotating. 66079 was the worst wobbler I've had, but was happy to rectify and removing all axle box contact solved it straight away. 

Funnily enough I picked up 66502 off eBay last week, which also had them all cut down and glued in, runs lovely.

I'm up to 7 66s now, I don't need anymore of the current batch so let's see if Hattons can deliver on an improved V2 with new liveries. Original Medite and Metronet for me please!

[Sir TophamHatt]

Sorry to to again.

Still haven't fully tested mine yet.

 

After unhooking the steps, body removal was quite easy / pain free.

 

How about cab removal?

I can see it has a couple of plastic lugs and some stoppers so I guess some sort of angled easing out? 

 

I just don't want to mess this one up.

[Pre Grouping fan]

34 minutes ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

How about cab removal?

I can see it has a couple of plastic lugs and some stoppers so I guess some sort of angled easing out? 

 

I just don't want to mess this one up.

 

As far as I could see when trying, the windows need to come out to release the cab interior.

 

I still want to, to fix the light bleed on my 66780.

[adb968008]

few more return stock listed tonight, including GBRF and DB.

 

https://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklist/1484058/1000588/1000635/0/hattons_originals_oo_gauge_1_76_scale_diesel_locos/prodlist.aspx?sort=5&pageid=1
 

Note a few seem to be listed as suitable for DC only as they are blowing decoders..not sure how that happens.

 

 

[Andy7]

2 hours ago, Pre Grouping fan said:

 

As far as I could see when trying, the windows need to come out to release the cab interior.

 

I still want to, to fix the light bleed on my 66780.

Windows do not need to come out. The cab has lugs that slot into the bottom of the window as per Bachmann 47/57. Just gently separate window to cab join and it will start to come out.

[newbryford]

16 hours ago, adb968008 said:

few more return stock listed tonight, including GBRF and DB.

 

https://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklist/1484058/1000588/1000635/0/hattons_originals_oo_gauge_1_76_scale_diesel_locos/prodlist.aspx?sort=5&pageid=1
 

Note a few seem to be listed as suitable for DC only as they are blowing decoders..not sure how that happens.

 

 

 

A common cause is a short between pickup and motor wiring.

 

If they're cheap enough, a rewire/homemade circuit board shouldn't be an issue to some.

 

[classy52]

Got my Pink Freightliner this morning and it's almost brand new for £89, everything intact including everything with the box so a great deal.

Now after some running for about 10mins in both directions, yes it wobbles as described, but it now has unfortunately decided not to run at all just like that out of the blue and the lights at both ends still work for both directions.

Just wanted to know what would be the likely cause of this?

I've never taken these apart to do mechanical or electrical fixes only taking the bodies off to cosmetically correct them and fix the AB wobbles thus before I reluctantly send it back would welcome any feedback on the causes of the motor suddenly stop working without warning and there aren't any smells from the loco thus nothing is burning or out of sorts electrically.

Cheers

Steve

[GEARJAMMER]

On 08/03/2021 at 09:19, classy52 said:

 

You add the item to your basket and then in the 'Qty in Cart' box you then add a random number (what you think is left, take a guess) and click on 'Update and Save Cart' and if the number skips back to 1 then what is left is less than what you put in, or if your number stays the same then it is either less than or = to or greater or = to what is left of that 66.

You keep doing this going backwards or forwards until you reach the point where your number input doesn't skip back to 1, but remember at each input of a number you must 'Update and Save Cart'...quite handy when you are watching the numbers for budgeting purposes.

Hopefully I've explained that correctly...

I do the same thing on Railtour websites to suss out what seats are left.

[classy52]

18 minutes ago, ERIC ALLTORQUE said:

Check back to page 186,its same model all there thanks to @adb968008

 

That's all well and good if you have spare motors laying around (I don't, not been doing this long enough yet to accumulate) and also have the expertise in taking a model apart at that level and replacing the motor with one from a different loco.

Also adb968008 had purchased it dead where mine was sold as working with a wobble but it did run for about 10mins before it suddenly stopped.

Anyway, took the body off and conducted a rudimentary check of the inside's and all looked to be in order thus maybe just a dead motor, unfortunately it will be going back to Hattons on Monday and I'll just wait for the next one to pop up.

[adb968008]

1 hour ago, classy52 said:

 

That's all well and good if you have spare motors laying around (I don't, not been doing this long enough yet to accumulate) and also have the expertise in taking a model apart at that level and replacing the motor with one from a different loco.

Also adb968008 had purchased it dead where mine was sold as working with a wobble but it did run for about 10mins before it suddenly stopped.

Anyway, took the body off and conducted a rudimentary check of the inside's and all looked to be in order thus maybe just a dead motor, unfortunately it will be going back to Hattons on Monday and I'll just wait for the next one to pop up.

Most likely the brush isn't reaching the commutator.. I've found this on two of my “intermittent runners” (haven't done the rest yet).

 

Although I have now identified a spare motors (a grand total of £2.52 on ebay), ive not needed them in the end... as once I pulled it apart, it was as simple as just bending the brush inwards a little. The motor is little more than a traditional Hornby X247 motor just in a can, and 5 pole.

 

What i’d suggest is probe test the contacts to the motor on the circuit board (isolates the issue to being between the track / board, or if its a motor issue)... marked M+ and M- on the board..

 

You can them work backwards or forwards from there, one of mine just had a blanking chip not seated right.. 

Edited March 13, 2021 by adb968008

[classy52]

56 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

Most likely the brush isn't reaching the commutator.. I've found this on two of my “intermittent runners” (haven't done the rest yet).

 

Although I have now identified a spare motors (a grand total of £2.52 on ebay), ive not needed them in the end... as once I pulled it apart, it was as simple as just bending the brush inwards a little. The motor is little more than a traditional Hornby X247 motor just in a can, and 5 pole.

 

What i’d suggest is probe test the contacts to the motor on the circuit board (isolates the issue to being between the track / board, or if its a motor issue)... marked M+ and M- on the board..

 

You can them work backwards or forwards from there, one of mine just had a blanking chip not seated right.. 

 

Many thanks for the info and have to say your knowledge is excellent.

I don't think I'm there yet or have the confidence with doing what you have suggested and do admire the work you do on the dodgy loco's you have purchased but I think I'm about 6-12 months away (maybe longer) from your skill level with pulling these things apart, testing and replacing motors etc....I've only recently become brave enough to carry out your rotating AB fix with a drill to the bogie frames and yes works a treat, done 3 today.

Also I don't have any testers yet so think of me of someone getting into model railways about 5 years ago spending his time researching, collecting & selling but now moving into the more serious business of designing and preparing to build his own layout in the near future but at the same time building up the tools and knowledge from people such as yourself.

Trust me I would love to take Pinky apart and even replace the motor but I don't mind sending it back and waiting on another one or even purchasing a brand new one down the line just before they sell out if I don't get a cheap pre-owned that runs.

Anyway, keep up the top work and information on testing/repairing these loco's.

[classy52]

Now this is quite amusing, just started running my 66789 after doing the AB's and after about 5mins of running very smoothly something fell apart inside (that what it sounded like) and subsequently the wheels started to struggle and then it completely seized up.

I can hear the motor working, or the sound of current, but no movement from the wheels...any suggestions on what might be the issue?

[Matt]

Sounds like maybe a driveshaft has dropped out?  You may find that one bogie is still receiving drive but the other not - but that the resistance of the unpowered bogie is stopping any movement.  I've had this on a couple of Bach locos over the years - relatively easy fix on them but i've not had this issue with an H66 yet.  I think someone else earlier in this thread had a problem like this but i would not like to guess which page... 

[adb968008]

9 hours ago, classy52 said:

Now this is quite amusing, just started running my 66789 after doing the AB's and after about 5mins of running very smoothly something fell apart inside (that what it sounded like) and subsequently the wheels started to struggle and then it completely seized up.

I can hear the motor working, or the sound of current, but no movement from the wheels...any suggestions on what might be the issue?

Speculating, but I had 2 where the gearbox lid wasnt secure over a bogie tower... it just wasnt pushed on tightly enough.

 

 

if the lid comes off the shaft could come out as the bogie can move , which means the motor could spin (and maybe drive one bogie fine), but the other bogie with the worm still locked but no shaft to drive it, could prevent free moving wheels.

 

does the bogie ‘droop’ a little when you lift the loco ? (Careful lifting, in a worst case the bogie could try to fall out and dangle by its pickup wires).

 

If it is that, the fix is refit the shaft into the yoke of the worm/motor , adjust the bogie on its pinion again and push on the gearbox lid secure.

 

pinion highlighted here..